Stay the Course
by Kal-El Fornia
Summary: When Daylen Amell, the Hero of Ferelden, is invited as the guest of honor to a celebration in Tevinter, he decides to attend, only to run into an old friend he hasn't seen in years. Sharing a toast with Jowan, Daylen is glad to know that in the end both of them remained free.


One of my favorite parts about Dragon Age: Origins is that no matter what Origin story you play, such as the Dwarf Noble or Mage Warden, that you'll always have a best friend with you that you can see at least one more time over the course of the game, even if it is sometimes tragic.

Jowan in particular is kind of pathetic, but at the end he's a very fascinating character I think. If you're a Mage Warden, depending on how you handle the situation in Redcliffe, he can tell you that the only reason he ever turned to Blood Magic was because he knew that otherwise he could never match your magical gift.

To the people who let Jowan go so that he wouldn't face the prison of the Aeonar, Tranquility, or execution, one of what I believe to be among the top most heartwarming moments in the game comes along upon the last time that you ever see him.

Disclaimer: Dragon Age belongs to Bioware and its EA overlords.

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Jowan had been surprised to hear when it had been announced to the party guests that the legendary Commander of the Grey, the Hero of Ferelden himself had just arrived as the guest of honor at the celebration. Back when he was growing up in the Circle tower he doubted that he himself would have ever ended up in Tevinter of all places, but the studious teacher's pet Daylen Amell? The Fade itself must have frozen over for that to have happened.

He stood up from the chair in the corner that he had been sitting in to enjoy the best music that Tevinter had to offer, but after raising his glass of wine to toast the Warden-Commander, Jowan didn't do anything more beyond that. He watched his old friend though, not daring to make his way over there, and curiously wondered what was going on in Daylen's mind.

Daylen was the Hero of Ferelden no doubt, but he was also something of a legend in Tevinter as well. Jowan had heard rumors that people in the higher echelons of the Chantry, not the Imperial one of course, had been disturbed by the fact that Ferelden's Warden-Commander, the same man who ended the Blight by killing the Archdemon, was a mage. Despite all that though, Daylen was a celebrated figure in the Imperium. Jowan had met many in Tevinter who, along with the tale of how the Champion of Kirkwall had killed the Qunari Arishok, recounted the stories of the Circle mage who became a Grey Warden, and the Grey Warden who rose up to save the world. It was always a story that was told more poetically than how Jowan would have said it, but every time he heard it he couldn't help but smile, feeling that those tales were the least his old friend deserved.

He watched in silence as the most important Magisters of Tevinter that were present made it a point to greet and shake hands with the Warden-Commander, and how Daylen and his entourage, whom Jowan assumed were other Grey Wardens, politely returned the gesture. Seeing Daylen again made Jowan consider just leaving the party early, perhaps to see if he could have some fun for himself out in that wild midnight that could only be found in Tevinter. It was a thought that he dropped however when he saw Daylen's eyes look around the room, maybe to see if there was anyone who was actually interesting to talk to, and when Daylen's eyes landed on him and rested there.

One of the Magisters was chatting with the Warden, but stopped as Daylen took one step in Jowan's direction. Jowan stood quietly, just staring back at the fellow mage he had grown up with on Lake Calenhad, and it was then that Daylen began walking towards him, but not before raising a hand to his fellow Wardens so that they wouldn't follow him. Jowan just smiled when he saw the other Wardens bow their heads in reverence, to a mage of all people.

As Daylen finally reached him, other attendees at the party staring on and wondering what in the world the Hero of Ferelden wanted with the mostly inconsequential Master Levyn, and Jowan simply grinned as Daylen was once again in front of him. It had been a lifetime since he had seen the friend he had played pranks on the Templars with as children. Remembering his most teasing tone from their childhood, Jowan addressed Daylen first, "Well, if it isn't the Hero of Ferelden?"

"Maybe," Daylen shrugged as he was finally able to know what had happened to his old friend that he hadn't seen in years, "but right now can you just call me Daylen?" the Warden thought for a moment before adding on, "And you are Master Levyn?"

Jowan simply shook his head. "With you I'm Jowan."

The two mages stood there and stared at each other for a moment not quite knowing what to do, but after each of them saw the same spark in the other's eye, the spark of nostalgia and friendship, their next action was immediate. To the shock of the other patrons of the celebration, and the utter bewilderment of the Grey Wardens and Magisters whose eyes hadn't left the two mages, Daylen and Jowan hugged each other for a moment.

After they broke apart from each other, and after Jowan had managed to keep himself from spilling his drink, he looked upon Daylen's face more closely than he had before. His friend looked tired for the most part, but Jowan chalked it up to the long trip from Ferelden to Tevinter, the pressure from leading the Wardens, and surprising enough for a mage in Ferelden, being named an Arl as well.

Jowan thought for a moment, before asking the first question that came to mind. "What are you doing here? I figured if anything you'd be heading to the Anderfels instead of Tevinter."

"I'm here on Warden business," Daylen admitted before going on, "but what about you? Why are you here?"

"In Tevinter?"

"At this party." Daylen clarified.

Jowan laughed, clearly knowing that the reason Daylen was confused by his presence at the celebration was because the current party was one that was only to be attended by the best and brightest in Tevinter, and whatever guests that they themselves had brought along with them. "I killed a Magister in a duel last week."

Unsurprisingly, Daylen raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "You killed a Magister?"

The fugitive mage just waved it off. "Without using blood magic either. He challenged me after I helped one of his slaves escape," Jowan then began joking, "but let's keep that last part between the two of us okay?"

Hearing that, Daylen felt a bit of pride in his childhood comrade. The last time he had seen Jowan the mage was a fugitive on the run for not only being a maleficar, but for also poisoning an Arl as well. Despite all that however, there Jowan was rubbing shoulders with Tevinter's most powerful mages, and perhaps the best part of it was, Jowan didn't seem out of place among them.

He rested a hand on Jowan's shoulder, wishing that things had gone down differently in Ferelden. "Will do, if you promise to kill more Magisters for me?" the Warden joked. "Their wine isn't nearly as good as the Orlesians."

Ever the Ferelden, Jowan was happy enough to quip back. "True enough, but I'd rather take the company of a bunch of blood mages than have to sit and share a drink with an Orlesian."

They laughed together for the first time since before Daylen had first had his Harrowing all those years ago. They had laughed as boys together while running from the Templars that were always afoot for them to mess with, they had laughed as teenagers while trying to find ways to poke fun at Cullen's crush on Surana, and now here they were together, as if they had never left the other's side, laughing as men who were free.

They had found freedom from the Chantry and the Templars in different ways, Jowan settling for being a hunted man instead, and Daylen as one of Wardens who were Grey like the Stone, guardians against the Darkness. Like the slave who Jowan had helped escaped, the two mages each had the one thing they never thought they would growing up in their gilded cage on Lake Calenhad, the chance to live as they pleased without a Templar's sword pressed ever at their throats. It was something that Daylen thought about at that very moment as he laughed, that there wasn't nothing else in the world that would ever be more glorious, not even his slaying of the Archdemon, than the current moment that he was sharing with the one person who, despite all their faults, would always be close to his heart.

When the laughing stopped, Daylen considered the fact that while he as a Warden could never again be touched by a Templar, that Jowan would always be hunted like an animal. He closed his eyes for a moment, before he opened them and spoke with total conviction. "If the Templars ever get their hands on you, tell them the Grey Wardens have recruited you."

Jowan grinned at first since he thought that Daylen was just joking around again, but then after a moment he frowned when he saw just how serious the Warden was being. "Are you invoking the Right of Conscription?"

"I am," Daylen then smirked, "if those Templar bastards ever corner you."

His frown disappeared, replaced with a soft smile, and Jowan figured that it was something to consider if he was ever caught, since after all it did beat Aeonar or worse, Tranquility. "We're not in a Blight anymore, so what do the Grey Wardens even do in boring times such as this?"

Learning from Duncan who had once been his own Commander and the man who saved him from a lifetime of Aeonar, Daylen's response was immediate. "We remain vigilant."

The former blood mage couldn't help but chuckle at the sternness in Daylen's eyes. "You Wardens take this stuff seriously, don't you?"

The Hero just shrugged. "We're not the most fun at parties."

Jowan closed his eyes and sighed as he took in the moment, over the years missing how easy it was for Daylen to turn everything into something funny. When his eyes opened once more, Jowan lifted his drink in the air and shouted. "A toast to the Commander of the Grey!"

Quickly, one of the Elven servants, or sadly enough since this was Tevinter after all, slaves, brought Daylen a glass of wine since he hadn't started drinking yet. He looked around the room filled with cheering mages that were hollering at their fellow mage who against all odds, against the restrictions the Chantry placed on magic and the Templars who had spent his entire life watching him for the first sign of corruption, raged against the Blight and became the only person to ever kill an Archdemon and live to tell the tale. Most of the audience cheered, others bowed their heads in reverence, but one person, the one who was close to his heart, simply looked at him tenderly.

Jowan nodded at his old friend. "Live long and prosper, Commander."

A sad smile came upon Daylen's face because he knew that as a Grey Warden, that neither of those things would ever be possible. Still, he raised his glass to meet Jowan's toast, knowing full well that tonight would be the last time that he would ever see him. "Stay the course, my friend."

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To all who read this, live long and prosper.

To any curious, I wrote this while listening to "Super Soaker" by Kings of Leon.


End file.
